“Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputations to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally.” — John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” — Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

Investors — high-net-worth as well as institutional — often embrace strong, herd-like, unexamined assumptions, some of which are dangerous to their wealth. The received wisdom does them more harm than good. In the absence of compelling, evidence-based intellectual leadership — a chronic problem in real estate — the investing world substitutes ad hoc answers for serious questions. Ours is a storytelling industry, and all too often the urge to close deals eclipses careful research and turns fiduciaries into brokers. All too many CEOs do not understand, much less know how to us